Reposted from the web

Summary: This Ningxia halal food guide continues the Yinchuan journey with Najia Lou, lamb bone broth, Tongxinchun wedding banquet, Mingxin Mosque Jumuah prayer, Minning Town, Jahriyya mosque architecture, and local starch noodle soup.

A Halal journey through Ningxia: The food in this Pearl of the Frontier is more than just salt-lake lamb (tanyang) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I met a friend and client at Najia Lou. The 'Na' family here does not refer to the one in Najaying, Yunnan. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.



I met a friend and client at Najia Lou. The 'Na' family here does not refer to the one in Najaying, Yunnan. There is a famous Great Mosque of Najiahu (Najiahu Qingzhen Dasi) in Yinchuan, which is a national cultural heritage site I have visited before. This restaurant, Najia Lou, is run by people from that area.



Eating big meals back-to-back put a lot of pressure on me, so this time I ordered something lighter: lamb bone broth (yanggutou) and steamed dumplings (zhengjiao).





Tongxinchun



The main reason for this trip to Yinchuan was to attend my apprentice's wedding. It was held in the morning at Tongxinchun. This is one of the few high-end halal restaurants in Yinchuan that does not allow smoking or alcohol. I have been to several of their branches, and their food is very popular with the locals.













The wedding day happened to be on a blessed Friday (Jumu'ah). The groom and I prayed Jumu'ah at the Mingxin Mosque right next to Tongxinchun. Afterward, I said goodbye to my friends in Yinchuan and drove toward Minning.



This is a Jahriyya mosque in Minning Town. This simple and traditional architectural style is a hallmark of the Jahriyya order, as they do not encourage decorating their mosques.







Sheep raised by a friend in Minning Town, seen that morning at my friend's home in Gan'ermaili.



This is the starch noodle soup (fentang) that our friend (dost) specifically saved for us. You can skip the meat in the Gan'ermaili meal, but you must have a bowl of this soup.



As you might guess from the name, Minning Town is a new town built with aid from Fujian to Ningxia. Most of the residents moved here from Xihaigu. The people living in Xihaigu were mostly refugees sent there during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. The land in Xihaigu is barren and resources are scarce, so the most effective way to solve local poverty is 'diaozhuang,' which means relocating entire villages. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide visits Yumen in Gansu, including Yumen Mosque, Uwais Gongbei, hand-grabbed mutton, Islamic discussions on visiting gongbei, and heritage connected to early Muslim figures in China.

A Halal Journey in Gansu: The Gongbei of the Prophet's Companion Uwais is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Traveling from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang, and finally leaving through Hami in eastern Xinjiang to return to Gansu, felt like a long deep-sea dive. The account keeps its focus on Qinghai Mosques, Chinese Muslims, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Traveling from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang, and finally leaving through Hami in eastern Xinjiang to return to Gansu, felt like a long deep-sea dive. I could finally surface to catch my breath and everything felt normal again, for reasons I mentioned in my previous Xinjiang travelogues.

Yumen Mosque



Yumen Mosque was the first mosque we entered after leaving Xinjiang. It felt like coming home. I naturally drove into the courtyard and parked in the open space in front of the main prayer hall, knowing I did not have to worry about anyone stopping me here.



I had a perfect wudu (ablution) in the washroom, and that long-lost feeling of relaxation and rejuvenation came back to me.





The familiar Chinese characters for "halal" (qingzhen) appeared on restaurant signs again, and I could finally eat a meal with peace of mind without being suspicious.



Beef vermicelli soup with flatbread (bing) was delicious.



Yumen Uwais Gongbei



Uwais Gongbei is the most worth-visiting place in Yumen. People say Uwais was one of the three companions of the Prophet sent to China by Caliph Uthman to spread the faith. Uwais passed away in Yumen. Gais passed away in Xingxingxia and was later reburied in Hami, which I mentioned in a previous travelogue. The last one, Waqqas, passed away in Guangzhou. Gongbei shrines were built at all three locations.



Uwais Gongbei does not belong to any specific Sufi order (menhuan), but is jointly managed by several of them. I met some enthusiastic mosque committee members here who treated us to hand-grabbed mutton (shouzhuarou) for afternoon tea.



Uwais Gongbei was originally called Huihuibao. After over 1,300 years of war and repeated donations for reconstruction, it has reached its current scale.



I will share some knowledge here about the religious rules for visiting a gongbei, which are discussed in detail in the book "The Radicals and Their Methods: A Discussion on the Major Issues They Raise" by Egyptian scholar Ali Gomaa.



When Imam Malik spoke about where the companions of the Prophet discussed burying the Prophet, he said: "Some say he was buried under the pulpit of the mosque, and others say he was buried in the Baqi cemetery." Then Abu Bakr arrived and said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say that every prophet is buried exactly where he passed away. So, they dug the grave right where the Prophet passed away and buried him there. —Muwatta Hadith, Volume 1, page 231.

This hadith shows that when someone suggested burying the Prophet inside the mosque, no one objected.



After the companions decided to bury the Prophet in the room of his wife Aisha, we find that this room was connected to the Prophet's Mosque where he led the Muslims in namaz. When Abu Bakr passed away, he was buried next to the Prophet, meaning there were now two graves in the room connected to the mosque. When Umar passed away, he was also buried next to the Prophet and Abu Bakr. At this point, there were three graves in the room connected to the mosque.



In this situation, Muslims continued to pray in the Prophet's Mosque without anyone raising an objection, which shows the consensus of the companions.

Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim record: May Allah curse the Jews and Christians, for they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship. Sahih Muslim adds: and the graves of their righteous people as places of worship. This hadith refers to bowing down in worship toward a grave, which is a different concept from building a mosque that happens to have a grave in one of its side buildings.



The Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) contains the burial place of Ismail and the tomb of Hatim, making it the most suitable mosque for performing namaz.



The specific legal ruling is as follows: if the tomb is in a place separated from the mosque, and the namaz is performed inside the mosque, the prayer is valid.

If the tomb is inside the mosque, the Hanbali school of jurisprudence holds that the prayer is invalid, but the other three schools of jurisprudence consider it valid. At most, these three schools of scholars say that if a tomb is in front of the person praying, the prayer is disliked because it creates the suspicion of praying to the tomb.



The above content is excerpted from the Al-Azhar Lighthouse series. It is not currently sold in China, so please do not send me private messages asking for the books.







The tomb of Uwais is separated from the mosque, and they face different directions.



The mosque management committee asked us about our experiences in Xinjiang. They said the Uwais gongbei is open 24 hours a day, never locks its doors, and welcomes everyone to visit. We said goodbye to the elders and continued along the Hexi Corridor toward Jiayuguan.

Jiayuguan Mosque



In 1982, Jiayuguan Mosque was originally a ritual washing room for Muslims at the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company, used for washing the bodies of the deceased. Later, it was expanded into a two-story prayer hall on Fuqiang Road. The Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company occupied mosque property to build a gymnasium and provided 1.8 million yuan in compensation. The current large mosque was built in 2002.



There are quite a few halal restaurants in Jiayuguan, but there are far fewer once you reach Jiuquan.

Jiuquan Dongguan Grand Mosque



Jiuquan has a Han-Tang food street, and surprisingly, you cannot find a single halal restaurant on the whole street, though the Jiuquan Dongguan Mosque is quite beautiful.















We stayed in Jiuquan for one night and then headed toward Beijing, passing through Wuwei.

Wuwei Dongguan Grand Mosque



Wuwei Dongguan Mosque is located on Mosque Lane in Dongguan Street and was first built in 1920. Wuwei had five mosques during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but they were torn down during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty.



It was renamed Liangzhou Grand Mosque in 1942 and changed back to the name Dongguan Mosque in 1986.















The calligraphy on the mihrab of the Wuwei Grand Mosque is very unique and rarely seen elsewhere in the country.









Although Gansu feels like it has many Hui Muslims, they are mainly concentrated around Lanzhou, Linxia, and Pingliang. There are a few in the Gannan region, but they are more sparsely distributed in the northwest.





We had some Xinjiang mixed noodles (banmian) in Wuwei. Honestly, Xinjiang noodles just do not taste the same once you leave Xinjiang. After being away for so long, we were eager to get home and drove back to Beijing the next day. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide to Lanzhou covers Wuxingping Lingmingtang, one of China’s largest gongbei sites, Xinguan Mosque, halal Hyatt breakfast, Lanzhou beef noodles, hand-grabbed lamb, and local Muslim heritage.

A Halal Tour of Lanzhou: The Five-Star Terrace Spiritual Light Hall (Wuxingping Lingmingtang), the Largest Gongbei in China is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I wrote a map of halal food in Lanzhou in 2016. This is my fifth time in Lanzhou. The account keeps its focus on Qinghai Mosques, Chinese Muslims, Muslim Heritage while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

I wrote a map of halal food in Lanzhou in 2016. This is my fifth time in Lanzhou. I flew the first four times, but this time I drove. It is about 1,400 kilometers from Beijing to Lanzhou, and the first city I stopped in after entering Gansu was Baiyin.



On the way, I took a highway called Wuma. It is named after the Wuhai to Maqin expressway, but it happens to sound like the Arabic word for nation.



After praying Maghrib (shamu) at the Great Mosque of Baiyin, I walked around the city looking for food, but I found there were not many choices.







I found this Chuntai Hand-Grabbed Meat Restaurant (Chuntai Shouzhua Meishicheng). Chuntai is a township in Dongxiang, Linxia, and it is famous for its delicious hand-grabbed lamb.





The food was really good. Both the hand-grabbed lamb and the firecracker noodles (paozhuang mian) were delicious.





I stayed in Baiyin for one night and walked around, but I did not find any places worth remembering.



When I saw the Yellow River Bridge, I knew I had arrived in Lanzhou. This time I stayed at the Hyatt Regency. I chose it because it is a halal Hyatt, which is rare in China. The owner is a Dongxiang person.



The promotional video for the Hyatt playing in the elevator features girls wearing headscarves.



The gym at the Lanzhou Hyatt is very large. It is rare for a five-star hotel in China to have such a big gym.



The gym faces the Yellow River, so the view is excellent.



What attracts me most about the Hyatt is the rich breakfast. Everything is halal, and you can choose whatever you want. Besides regular Western desserts, they also have local Northwest specialties.













The Lanzhou beef noodles at the Hyatt were the only beef noodles I ate on this trip to Lanzhou. They were truly delicious and just as good as any of the old, famous shops I have visited in Lanzhou.



Xinguan Mosque



Local elders in Lanzhou highly recommended I visit Xinguan Mosque. People say it is very popular with young people because the imam, Ma Jun, gives lively and vivid sermons (wa'az) in Mandarin.



The mosque gate is completely open to the public, and many children play at the entrance.





Yixiang Stir-fry



Next to Xinguan Mosque is a Lanzhou stir-fry shop that a long-time Lanzhou local specifically recommended to me as a place for authentic local dishes.



This shop has been open in Lanzhou for over ten years, and the customers are mostly local residents from the neighborhood.



I really enjoy eating at these popular local spots. You can taste the quality in the cooking here, and I probably would not have noticed this place if a friend had not shown me the way.



Lanzhou thick-sauce lamb (hu yang)

This was my first time eating thick-sauce lamb. I noticed that traditional Lanzhou stir-fry is mostly salty, fresh, and sweet, and the way they use starch to thicken sauces is similar to Beijing cuisine.



Sweet and sour meat-stuffed crepes (suanla jiasha)



Sweet and sour pork tenderloin (tangcu liji)

If you get tired of eating Northwest-style noodles, remember to stop by Yixiang Stir-fry when you are in Lanzhou.

Miaotanzi Gadan



Local elders picked this Miaotanzi Gadan as another special Lanzhou barbecue stall for me. The environment is basically non-existent. It has been open for over a decade and is full of locals. People sit on stools by the roadside to eat, or just stand and dip their skewers.



Lanzhou barbecue is known for using iron skewers over an open flame with plenty of seasoning. They come in bundles of 20, and it is easy for one person to eat 30 or 50. I like these small skewers. Large ones fill me up after one or two, which feels less satisfying.

Aliya Art Restaurant



After spending a long time in Northwest cities, I cannot handle heavy dishes anymore. I specifically chose this refreshing art restaurant to meet a friend. You can have afternoon tea here, or choose from light meals.



Aliya Lanzhou Center branch. Their desserts are excellent. They also serve sushi and salads, which are rare, light food options in the Northwest.



Things like sushi and spring rolls are much easier to eat.





Hongyunxuan Macau Charcoal Hot Pot



I have had this halal hot pot (dabanlu) place saved in my Beijing list for a long time as a Lanzhou specialty. Hongyunxuan previously ran a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant in Macau, but it closed during the pandemic. I did not expect them to open a hot pot place in Lanzhou.



The restaurant decor is very Cantonese. It has not been open long, so I wonder how long it will last.





We chose two types of seafood porridge bases. You can drink the porridge first, then cook the meat.





Fish maw (huajiao) porridge base







This Cantonese-style hot pot (dabanlu) tastes good and is light. I hope it stays open because it really helps add variety to the food scene in the Northwest.

Shancheng Hand-Grabbed Lamb (Shancheng shouzhuo)



I met an elder (xianglao) from the Lingming Hall (Lingmingtang) in Lanzhou at Shancheng Hand-Grabbed Lamb. Shancheng is a village in Linxia, and many friends in Lanzhou recommend this place. Most people working in the halal restaurant business in Lanzhou are from Linxia.



Before eating, they serve tea. You can grab whatever you like from the Three-Fortress Tea (sanpaotai) platter. The rose inside is a local Lanzhou specialty, and you must add it.



The hand-grabbed lamb is tender with a good mix of fat and lean meat, mostly lean, which is how I like it.



Yogurt with fermented oat grains (tianpei) is a creative new combination. Fermented oat grains are a popular Lanzhou snack.



Soup made with hair moss (facai). Hair moss is a specialty of the Northwest and can be used as medicine.



The lily bulbs in the assorted shrimp dish are another Lanzhou specialty. You must try lily bulbs when you come to Lanzhou.



Hot and sour stuffed meat (suanla jiasha). The outer layer of the stuffed meat is made of egg, similar to Beijing's fried meat strips (songrou), but those use bean curd skin.



Cold tossed wild onion (shacong). This is a wild vegetable from the Northwest, and it has become more common in Beijing over the last two years.



Sugar oil cake (tangyougao) is a bit like the Qinghai dog-pissing pancake (goujiaoniao). It is hollow inside. My friends chose these local specialties for me, and Shancheng Hand-Grabbed Lamb lives up to its reputation. It is worth recommending.



After the meal, we visited the home of the elder from Lingming Hall and saw this biography, The Brief Biography of Master Lingming (Lingming Shangren Zhuanlue).



On the way to Lingmingtang Gongbei, I passed through Gongbei Gully and saw several gongbei built halfway up the mountain.





The Lingmingtang Gongbei sits on the top of Wuxingping Mountain in Lanzhou, covering an area of over 30,000 square meters, and it is the largest gongbei I have ever seen.



The founding master of Lingmingtang Gongbei was Ma Yilong (1853-1925), whose courtesy name was Lingming. He once studied under the Great Incense Master of the Kashgar Daotang and accepted the teachings of the Qadiriyya. In his final words, he mentioned being the 'answerer promised by the Bab gate,' which led some to believe he was influenced by the Babi faith. However, some descendants of Lingmingtang deny this, as detailed in the article 'A Discussion on the Possibility of Historical Contact Between Lingmingtang and the Babi Sect'.



During his lifetime, Ma Lingming lived a life of poverty and appeared eccentric, remaining unmoved even when children played around him or passersby mocked him. People often asked him questions, and he would sometimes give hints without taking a penny. Over time, some felt his guidance came true, and they began to respect him.



Whenever a Sufi elder gains the support of the public, they must have some extraordinary qualities. This is especially true for local illiterate believers, as it is hard to win hearts through reasoning and education alone.



As Ma Lingming's followers grew, he caught the attention of local officials, who supported him to keep other menhuan in check.



Ma Lingming himself remained indifferent to fame and wealth. He had no sons, only two daughters, and his noble character earned him the support of many believers.



The religious authority of Lingmingtang is passed to the worthy rather than to one's own children. Before Ma Lingming passed away, he publicly gathered his followers to elect a second-generation successor. They finally chose Shan Zijiu (1888-1953) from Lanzhou. The election process was very complex and required many rituals to complete the succession.



After Shan Zijiu, the religious authority was passed to Wang Shoutian (1924-2021), an elder from Tangwangchuan in Dongxiang County.



Between 1958 and 1979, Wang Shoutian was imprisoned during the anti-religious and anti-feudal movements. After his release, he began leading the construction of the Lingmingtang Gongbei, and the current Wuxingping site was allocated to Lingmingtang by the government in 1982.



Wang Shoutian valued education, and in 1993, he took the lead in donating money to convert Tangwang Primary School into a middle school.



At the same time, Wang Shoutian also valued business and encouraged followers to develop production. He even believed that young people should focus on their careers, which is why Lingmingtang has better economic strength than other menhuan and the financial resources to build such a grand gongbei.



Ma Lingming left behind no personal property. The construction of the Lingmingtang gongbei cost over 100 million yuan, all of which came from donations by believers.



Currently, there are Lingmingtang branch gongbei in Guyuan, Linxia, Hami, and Luoyang. The current fourth-generation leader is named Su Zhilin. He is in his thirties and was elected by the community elders.





The election of the leader is only considered complete after it is approved by the relevant authorities.

































The former residence of the elder Wang Shoutian is inside the Lingmingtang gongbei. During his lifetime, he often sat in the courtyard with people gathered around him to listen to his teachings. Because he had a strong Tangwang accent—or perhaps he was speaking the Dongxiang language—someone would sit by his side to translate for him.









The elder did not know Chinese characters, but he was fluent in the mosque language (jingtangyu), so he usually read scriptures in Arabic.





Our Lingmingtang elder did not want to enter the former residence because it reminded him of the elder when he was alive. His eyes turned red instantly, so he waited outside the hall.



There is an exhibition room inside the gongbei that houses some antiques, paintings, and personal items used by the elder during his lifetime.







It is clear that the elder was very high-profile during his life. He was passionate about public welfare, open-minded, and progressive. This felt completely different from my visits to other menhuan gongbei. Some menhuan do not want outside attention; they allow visits but do not want publicity. Others focus on spiritual practice and stay away from the world. Lingmingtang is the opposite. It is more like a family business that encourages people to focus on their careers before the age of 60. These ideas have gained support from a significant number of wealthy believers.







Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows the route from Ruoqiang to Yarkand, with halal food stops, mosque visits, Altun Mosque, Yarkand Khanate royal tombs, Turdi Haji Manor, Uyghur history, and road trip notes.

A Southern Xinjiang Muslim Journey: The Yarkand Khanate Tombs and the Turdi Haji Manor is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: We entered Xinjiang from Mangya City in Qinghai, and the first city we reached was Ruoqiang. The account keeps its focus on Yarkand Travel, Chagatai Khanate, Uyghur History while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

We entered Xinjiang from Mangya City in Qinghai, and the first city we reached was Ruoqiang. Since we planned to drive from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang, we hit a sandstorm as soon as we crossed the border. Yellow sand filled the sky, making it impossible to keep our eyes open, and the highway was covered in shifting sand, creating an instantly eerie atmosphere.



Starting from Ruoqiang, we could no longer find restaurants with halal signs.



To know if a restaurant is okay to eat at, you either have to guess or ask. This Yangyangyang Pilaf (zhuafan) shop is an old establishment, and it is safe to eat there.



Our first meal in Xinjiang was the pilaf from this shop. To be honest, their pilaf was just as good as any other I had in later cities.





Next door to Yangyangyang, we found an Azhen Rice Noodles (mifen) shop. This chain also has locations in Beijing and is halal.



Since we couldn't find it on domestic maps, we had to ask passersby for the location of the mosque. After finding it, we discovered it wasn't open. Ruoqiang Mosque was the first mosque we passed on our Xinjiang trip.





After a short break, we continued to the next city, Qiemo. We checked into the Qiemo Hotel in the evening and learned from the staff that the breakfast is halal.



Qiemo Hotel is considered a relatively good state-run guesthouse in the area. Most prefectures in Xinjiang have these types of state-run hotels, so stay in one if you want to avoid bad accommodation experiences.



On the inside of the hotel room door, there was a sign that read, 'Walls have ears, watch your words.' This made me wonder what must have happened here before; otherwise, why would they need such a warning?



Qiemo has a grand bazaar and two night markets. We visited both. They aren't very large, but the food at the night markets is delicious.



We ate baked buns (kaobaozi), roasted pigeon, and red willow skewer meat (hongliu kaorou) at the Yudu Night Market.





Roasted meat (kaorou) tastes good everywhere in Xinjiang, even at highway rest stops.





I had my first bowl of mixed noodles (banmian) in Xinjiang at Ma's Barbecue (Ma Ji Shaokao), and I have never had a bad bowl of mixed noodles in this region.





Wusu carbonated drink.



I found a Flaming Mountain Restaurant (Huoyanshan Canting) in Qiemo. This chain used to have locations in Beijing, but they have all closed down now.



I searched for a mosque on Google Maps for a long time without success, then I suddenly realized this plot of land might be it.



It is now a construction site.



The next day we continued driving west to Yutian County because there is an Id Kah Mosque (Aitiga'er Qingzhensi) there.



Unfortunately, photography is not allowed at the mosque. The security guard deleted the photo I took of the main gate, so I only have one photo of the side.



The image above shows the original appearance of the Id Kah Mosque, taken from the second volume of 'Architectural Art of Islam in China'.



With nowhere else to go, we had to find a nearby restaurant to eat. We happened to see this Hotan Canteen (Hetian Shitang). Yutian County is part of the Hotan region, and since there are Hotan Canteens in Beijing, I wanted to see how this one was different.



The restaurant environment was quite nice, but the food was not good and the prices were high. Combined with my earlier unpleasant experience, I just wanted to leave this city as soon as possible.







I left Yutian and arrived at Hotan Tuancheng. Because I was told not to take photos earlier, I was very careful when I first got to Hotan. I started by taking a few secret photos from inside the car. Later, I saw tourists everywhere and no one was stopping them, so I became bolder. Strangely, I never ran into any more photo restrictions during the rest of my trip in Xinjiang.







Hotan Tuancheng is just like the Old City of Kashgar; it has been renovated and contains both homes and shops. It is worth walking around and eating there. The girls in Hotan are even prettier, and I feel they are better looking than the ones in Kashgar.



A kind girl in Hotan warned us not to drive the wrong way on a one-way street. We were embarrassed because we first thought she was trying to chat us up.





I had my first bowl of yogurt shaved ice (suannai baobing) at this shop in Tuancheng. My first impression of Hotan is really good.









Jiaman Mosque is in the center of Hotan Tuancheng. It was first built during the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1875).



I asked the Uyghur grandfather at the entrance if I could go inside, but he shook his head.



Pishan County is a place I have always wanted to visit. When I arrived, it was completely different from what I expected. The city was built with help from Anhui Province. There is almost no local ethnic character, and the buildings use the Anhui style, making me feel like I was in Anhui.





The Pishan County Guest House is state-run, like guest houses in other parts of Xinjiang. They are usually the best hotels in the area. If you do not know where to stay, choosing the guest house is a safe bet, and the breakfast is always halal.



I ate at a beef noodle shop run by Uyghurs in Pishan County. It is really hard to find halal restaurants here, and none of them looked like one, but this place called Magake seemed reliable.



I specifically walked around the supermarket and could not find a single halal food item. Even these sausages had no halal label.



A niche spot worth visiting in Pishan County is the Turdi Haji Manor.



Turdi Haji was a wealthy landlord (bai) in Xinjiang during the Republic of China era. He built this manor in 1916. It covers 2,500 square meters and is now a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.



The gate was locked when we arrived at the manor. We made a phone call, and the local tourism bureau sent a worker to open it for us. Admission was free.



What drew me to the manor were the painted decorations inside. They still have Arabic script, including the Shahada and excerpts from the Quran, along with some Uyghur script.



This is very rare to see in a private home today. The manor blends styles from Central Asia, West Asia, and the Middle East, so I just thought of it as a mosque.

































Leaving Hotan Prefecture for Kashgar Prefecture, you pass through Yarkant County (Shache), which was once the site of the Yarkant Khanate palace.



The old mosque district, with the Jiaman Mosque at its center, is currently undergoing renovations.



We ate Nurgul cold jelly noodles (liangfen liangpi) in Yarkant County. The whole room was full of women, and we were the only table of men.



But these cold noodles were really delicious, and they even added chickpeas.



The Yarkant Khanate Palace is a must-visit spot for tourists with a 40 yuan ticket, but it is a new building modeled after the original, so it is optional. However, the Amanisahan and Yarkant Khanate Royal Mausoleum across the street is worth a visit.











Next to the royal mausoleum is the Altun Mosque. It was open, but not for visitors, and there was someone guarding the entrance.



Altun Mosque



Amanisahan (1526-1560) was the master who compiled the Twelve Muqam art. She married into the palace at 13 and died during childbirth at 34.











The Yarkant Khanate Royal Mausoleum holds the remains of generations of the royal family. Yarkant County was formerly known as Yarkant City and served as the capital of the Khanate, which followed the Black Mountain sect.













The tomb of Sultan Said, the founder of the Khanate.









I had a shaved ice (baobing) in the square. The summer heat in southern Xinjiang is intense, and shaved ice is the perfect way to cool down and quench your thirst.



Azina Mosque

Azina Mosque appeared, and I carefully took a quick photo from the car. I haven't had enough of the beauty of Yarkant (Shache) and Hotan yet, so I think I will come back again. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to northern Xinjiang follows the Duku Highway, Bayanbulak Grassland, Nalati, Yining Shaanxi Mosque, Sayram Lake, Hui and Uyghur prayer life, and local halal food on the road.

A Halal Trip to Northern Xinjiang: Is Sayram Lake Actually Called Sailimai? is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Driving from Urumqi in Northern Xinjiang to Southern Xinjiang via the Duku Highway is a classic road trip, but I chose to drive from south to north. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Driving from Urumqi in Northern Xinjiang to Southern Xinjiang via the Duku Highway is a classic road trip, but I chose to drive from south to north. Going in reverse helps avoid the heavy traffic of the peak tourist season. The route passes through the Bayanbulak Grassland and the Nalati Grassland. The 560-kilometer drive from Kuqa to Yili includes about half on the Duku Highway, taking nine hours in total. You can experience all four seasons in a single day.



Having an electronic toll collection (ETC) tag saves time. Not many cars in Xinjiang have them, even though highways have ETC lanes. Most drivers get stuck in lines at the manual toll booths. Using an ETC tag on the Duku Highway costs 19 yuan, while the manual toll is 20 yuan.



The Duku Highway has an average elevation of 2,000 meters. You can see high-altitude snow-capped mountains, vast grasslands, deep canyons, and lakes. The scenery is truly beautiful. There are many rest areas along the way for sightseeing. A few spots are paid attractions, but I skipped those as they did not seem necessary.











Before reaching Yining County in Yili, you pass through the Bayanbulak Grassland and the Nalati Grassland. The Bayanbulak Grassland stretches for hundreds of kilometers. The endless sea of green grass and the blue sky wiped away all the fatigue from driving.



You can drive your own car into the Nalati Scenic Area, but you must book tickets on their official WeChat account a few days in advance. Self-driving tickets are in high demand, so it is best to get them early. We did not plan to enter the scenic area and just drove past it. These photos were taken with a phone, and the scenery inside is basically the same.





After a long day of travel, we arrived in Yining County, Yili Prefecture, after 10 p.m., just in time for the Maghrib (shamu) prayer.



This was our first time joining a congregational prayer at a mosque since arriving in Xinjiang, and I felt incredibly moved.



The elders at the mosque were very welcoming and told us about the Shaanxi Grand Mosque. The Yining Shaanxi Grand Mosque was built in 1751 during the 16th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. The main hall has two floors; the first floor has Uyghur-style interiors, while the second floor is in a traditional Chinese style. Currently, only the first floor is open.



Many places in Xinjiang have Shaanxi mosques, which were usually built by Hui Muslims who moved from inland China. During prayer time, I saw Uyghur elders and Hui Muslims praying together. After the prayer, everyone greeted each other, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.









The Shaanxi Grand Mosque is located in the Kazanqi Old Town in the center of Yining, which is also a popular spot for tourists.



Another national cultural heritage site in Yining is the minaret of the Jiefang South Road Mosque, also known as the Baitula Mosque. It was built in 1773 during the 38th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. The main building was demolished and rebuilt in 1996, but the minaret was preserved.







This street is also a night market packed with food, and it stays busy until after one in the morning.



I spent 10 yuan at the night market on three pieces of milk tofu (naidoufu). I took a bite, and it was sour and smelly; I think I ate it the wrong way.



For dinner, I had mixed noodles (banmian) and wontons (huntun) at Wuziqiaokelike on Jiefang South Road. The place was full of people, and the food tasted good.











Another food bazaar in Yining is on Hanren Street. I used to hear that there were no Han people on Hanren Street. That might have been true at one time, but it is definitely not the case now, as there are plenty of Han tourists there.



I had a bowl of starch noodle soup (fentang) at a Uyghur stall.







Aibaoersake Kazakh Theme Restaurant

I had Kazakh breakfast twice in Six-Star Street in Yining. Kazakh people eat stir-fried dishes for breakfast, which is very hardcore.



The staff clearly looked Kazakh, with facial features similar to Mongolians.





Baorsak is the fried dough food shown below. It is fluffy and soft, and you can dip it in various sauces. It is a Kazakh specialty, a bit like the fried dough (youxiang) eaten by Hui Muslims.



Baorsak





Kazakh potatoes

You definitely have to drink milk tea in the morning. It is salty and served with Kazakh potatoes, stir-fried meat with chili peppers, and a side of smoked horse sausage. Having such a special breakfast in Yili is very satisfying.











For a main meal, try traditional Yili stir-fry. I recommend Yimaisi, located not far from Six Star Street. It is owned by the same people as the Lari Hot Pot next door. This restaurant has been open for nearly eight years and is one of the few places in Xinjiang that does not serve alcohol or allow smoking. Staying open for eight years means the food must be good enough to win over the locals.



I tried their stir-fried dishes and every single one was delicious. The owner told me that they make as many ingredients as possible from scratch instead of buying pre-made items. Even their yogurt shaved ice (suannai baobing) is made with great care.





Yogurt shaved ice (suannai baobing)



Fermented vegetable noodle soup (jiangshui mian)

This was my first time eating fermented vegetable noodle soup (jiangshui mian) served hot. I had only eaten it cold before in Gansu.



Freshly fried dough fritters (youxiang)

It is worth noting that not only are the meat dishes good, but their vegetable dishes are also very flavorful. It is no wonder the owner can keep the business booming without selling alcohol, which is not an easy thing to do in Xinjiang. This was the most impressive restaurant we ate at in Yining.





Another place in Six Star Street, Laoha Fast Food, was recommended by a friend for breakfast. The environment is simple, but it feels very authentic and the prices are much cheaper.



The interesting thing about this shop is that breakfast is self-service. You take what you want to eat, and when you finish, you go to the owner to pay. You just tell them what you ate based on your own memory. The owner cannot keep track of everyone, and I believe very few people would lie about what they ate.





There is a popular restaurant in Six Star Street called Blue Wall Mianfeizi that many friends recommended I try. It is called Blue Wall because the walls are painted blue, which is a common color for houses in Yili.





The lung and noodle dish (mianfeizi) is truly delicious and business is very good, but their operating hours are short and they close as soon as it gets dark.



Lung noodles (mianfeizi)



Mudanhan ice cream

Across from the blue-walled lung noodles (mianfeizi) shop is a beautiful ice cream parlor called Mudanhan. Ice cream shops are popular spots for people in Yili to relax and chat, and you can find them everywhere. However, Mudanhan uses better ingredients than the others I have tried. Their ice cream is made with pure milk, has no ice crystals, and tastes rich and smooth.









Six Star Street also has a long-standing ice cream shop called Gulandamu. It is an old shop with a traditional residential style and a nice atmosphere, but the ice cream is not as pure in texture as Mudanhan. Mudanhan is a better fit for young people.







The buildings on Six Star Street are mostly in a Russian style because the area was influenced by Tsarist Russia in the past. This Russian-style neighborhood look is at least a hundred years old. Even the mosque on Six Star Street is in a Russian style and is very beautiful. The young men and women in Yili also dress with a Russian flair. This is part of Yili's charm, where you can experience the collision of different cultures.













Dongguan West Mosque in Yangbulake Village

Leaving Yining, we saw the Kazakh Dongguan West Mosque in Yangbulake Village on the way to the Horgos border crossing, but it was not open.



Horgos has two national gates. The first is the old gate, and below it is the new gate. If you have a passport, you can take a visa-free one-day trip to Kazakhstan.



We set off from Yining to Shuiding Town in Huocheng to visit the gongbei of the wife of Ma Mingxin, the founding master of the Jahriyya order.



The wife's gongbei in Shuiding Town

The Zhang family wife's gongbei has been closed for all activities for many years, and the inside is overgrown with weeds.



Ma Mingxin, the founding master of the Jahriyya order, had two wives. One was a Salar grandmother who committed suicide after learning that Ma Mingxin had been killed. The other was this Zhang family wife from Caoyagou, Tongwei, Gansu. She and her three daughters were exiled to Xinjiang, and the three daughters died on the way.

Mrs. Zhang's daughter, Mrs. Hagu, drowned herself in a lake on her way to Yili. According to an imam from the Jahriyya (Zhepai) order, the name Sayram Lake comes from Mrs. Hagu's religious name, Salima. Mrs. Zhang was exiled alone to work as a slave in an official residence in Yili.



In the 46th year of the Qianlong reign, Mrs. Zhang killed an official's entire family with a knife in the middle of the night. She later turned herself in, was sentenced to death by the Qing court, and was buried by the Yili River.



After visiting this shrine (gongbei), I have now been to all the main shrines of the Jahriyya order. Although I am not a member of a Sufi order (menhuan) and only knew about them from books before, visiting them in person and talking with the families has given me a lot to think about. The information in books about these orders is still quite one-sided.



I left Shuiding Town and headed toward Urumqi. On the way, I passed Sayram Lake and accidentally found a rest area in Guozigou. There is a path that leads directly to the Sayram Lake scenic area, so I didn't have to buy a ticket and saved the 300 yuan self-driving fee.



Remember this entrance: navigate to the Guozigou pasture in Huocheng County. Go up the mountain from this point, and you can reach the top in about an hour to look down at the full view of Sayram Lake.



The horses along the way are raised by Kazakh people. You can also ride a horse up the mountain, but they charge by the hour, and the actual cost is about the same as the scenic area entrance ticket.





We reached the top of the mountain in no time. The scenery in front of us was beautiful, and it was free, too.













The beauty of Sayram Lake is just as good as Kanas Lake, which I have visited before. Plus, after hearing the stories of the Jahriyya order on this trip, I feel it has even more meaning. As for whether it should be called Sayram Lake or Salima Lake, it really doesn't matter to the Jahriyya.

I remember the imam saying that in winter, one part of the lake never freezes, which seems to be a sign. The imam had tears in his eyes when he mentioned that history, a scene I could never have felt just by reading a book. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim travel guide to Kashgar covers Id Kah Mosque, Kashgar Old City, Abakh Khoja Mazar in Fragrant Concubine Garden, Sufi heritage, prayer experiences, Uyghur daily life, and local halal food.

A Kashgar Mosque Tour: The Abakh Khoja Tomb (Mazar) Inside the Fragrant Concubine Garden (Xiangfei Yuan) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The charm of Kashgar lies in the fact that it has both the tourist-friendly Kashgar Old City and Fragrant Concubine Garden (Xiangfeiyuan), as well as shrines (mazar) and mosques where various Sufi orders (menhuan) visit. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

The charm of Kashgar lies in the fact that it has both the tourist-friendly Kashgar Old City and Fragrant Concubine Garden (Xiangfeiyuan), as well as shrines (mazar) and mosques where various Sufi orders (menhuan) visit to honor their ancestors. Everyone experiences Kashgar in their own way.

We spent three days and two nights in Kashgar. We drove all the way from Beijing, covering about 5,000 kilometers. I had the car serviced before leaving Beijing, and it was just time for another service when we arrived in Kashgar.

We found a repair shop near the Old City. The owner is a local Han Chinese born and raised in Kashgar, and he employs a group of Uyghur youths. The owner is very talkative and speaks Uyghur. He had a Uyghur girlfriend when he was young, but they broke up because her family opposed the relationship. Now, he leads a group of Uyghur guys in his business. According to him, there are about 100,000 old Kashgar Han Chinese like him who are fluent in Uyghur, but his son cannot speak the language.

We greeted the Uyghur mechanic with a salaam. He touched his chest, and then he worked even harder.

We found a nice homestay in the Kashgar Old City. Because it is located at the entrance of the Old City and is very close to the underground parking lot, the price is high. It is called Wasting Half a Lifetime (Langfei Bansheng). The homestay is in a Moroccan style, which fits perfectly in the Kashgar Old City and feels very appropriate.







The famous Id Kah Mosque (Aitigaer) is right on the Old City square. I had looked forward to visiting it for many years, but after actually walking inside, I felt a bit disappointed.





There are many mosques in Xinjiang called Id Kah, which means a place for festival prayers. The one in Kashgar is the largest Id Kah Mosque in Xinjiang, covering 16,800 square meters, and it was first built in 1442.



It is comforting that people can still pray here, but only during prayer times. At other times, it is open for tourists to visit for a 30-yuan ticket. Many tourists pay to come in, walk around, and then say it is not worth the visit.



The Id Kah Mosque is not as big as I imagined. Perhaps it is because the main hall building is relatively small, and most of the area is the open space in front of the hall. Also, the entire mosque has been renovated, so you cannot see any ancient traces.













In the middle of the main hall, a tour guide was explaining things to a group of tourists. I walked to the side and performed two rak'ahs of prayer. My heart was not calm during these two rak'ahs because this was the first time on our trip through Southern Xinjiang that we were able to perform a normal prayer.





The streets and alleys of Kashgar are full of advertisements for the Fragrant Concubine Tomb scenic area. However, after the Fragrant Concubine married the Qianlong Emperor, she was buried in Beijing. This tomb in Kashgar is only a cenotaph for her, and her family members are buried inside. In this cemetery, the most worth mentioning is the shrine (mazar) of Afaq Khoja, as the Fragrant Concubine was his great-granddaughter.



The Fragrant Concubine Tomb (Xiangfei Muyuan) is very large and has complete facilities. It is a spot worth visiting for photos. The tomb (mazar) of Afaq Khoja is inside, but you might miss it if you do not look carefully because there are no clear signs around it.













The mazar of Afaq Khoja is right next to the Jiaman Mosque. Since there are no signs, most tourists do not walk this way, making it look especially quiet in the busy Fragrant Concubine Garden.



Afaq Khoja is very important to the various Sufi orders (menhuan) in China, and his influence is closely linked to their history. His disciples include leaders of the Jahriyya, Xianmen, Bi Jichang, Mufti, Ma Diangong, Liu Boyang, Tong Tai Baba, Li Tai Baba, and Anxi Taiye. Ma Laichi of the Huasi menhuan was also born after receiving a blessing from Afaq Khoja, so the records of these menhuan all trace back to Afaq Khoja in Xinjiang.



Because of his struggle with the Black Mountain sect, Afaq Khoja was forced to move to inland areas like Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai. Later, he sought help from the Fifth Dalai Lama, who instructed Galdan to support Afaq Khoja's return to Yarkand. Afaq Khoja returned to Yarkand and later died during the struggle against the Black Mountain sect.



Both the Black Mountain sect and the White Mountain sect come from the same Khoja family. Ishaq, the youngest son of Makhdum-i-Azam, was the founder of the Black Mountain sect. Mamut Yusuph, the grandson of Makhdum-i-Azam, was the founder of the White Mountain sect, and Afaq Khoja was the son of Mamut Yusuph.

















Across from the Jiaman Mosque, there is another prayer hall, but it is no longer in use.







About two or three kilometers from the Kashgar Old City, there is another tomb complex similar in style to the Fragrant Concubine Garden that is also worth mentioning: the Tomb of Yusuf Khass Hajib (1019-1085).



Yusuf Khass Hajib, the famous poet and author of Wisdom of Royal Glory (Kutadgu Bilig), was a Kyrgyz person and a court official for the Karakhanid dynasty. Kashgar was the capital of the dynasty at the time, and Khass Hajib means court official. His portrait is still printed on Kyrgyz banknotes today.



Yusuf Khass Hajib had a huge influence on Uyghur language and literature, much like Confucius for the Chinese people. However, because Han people do not know much about him, very few tourists visit his tomb.









































In Kashgar, you have to wait until almost 11:00 PM for it to get dark, which is a time difference of nearly three hours from Beijing. It is very sunny during the day, so you can visit the Night Market (Han Bazar) in the Old City at night. There are many tourists there, and it is still busy until 1:00 AM.







The old man's melon at the Han Bazar costs 3 yuan a slice; it is delicious and cheap.









Figs (wuhuaguo).



Braised meat (gangzirou)



Rose pigeon soup (meiguihua gezi tang)



Rice sausage and lung (michang mianfei)





Roasted goose egg (kao edan)





Thin-skinned steamed bun (baopi baozi)



The snacks at the night market (hanbazha) taste great. They have almost all the unique snacks from Xinjiang here, which is very friendly for tourists. Since the old town was renovated, it has attracted many couples who come here to take portraits.





While wandering around the old town, we accidentally found a few mosques that were not open to the public. Even though some did not have signs, we could easily recognize them by their distinct minarets.





Sahaya Community Oil Market Mosque (Sahaya shequ youbazha qingzhensi)





Wuerdashike Mosque (Wuerdashike qingzhensi)



Finding a good restaurant in southern Xinjiang is actually simple. Just look at the name. Some names sound a bit strange because they are direct translations from the Uyghur language. For example, a restaurant called 'Seven Generations of Food' means that seven generations of their family have worked in the food business. Han Chinese people usually do not choose names like that.











Uyghur people have a great tradition of being very quiet when eating in public. If you are observant, you can notice this.



Before leaving Kashgar, I visited a friend. She just had her second child and was on maternity leave. Her parents moved from Sichuan to settle in Kashgar. She has completely adapted to the climate in Kashgar and would actually find it uncomfortable to live in the south now.



We had our last meal in Kashgar at this meatball soup (wanzi tang) shop called Miquan Wonton. The name tells you the owner is from Miquan, a district in Urumqi. After leaving Kashgar, we drove north toward our destination, Urumqi.





The taxi trunk had a bilingual sticker that said, Please do not slam the door. Experience tells me that in Xinjiang, the trunk is the part of the car that breaks the easiest. Can you guess why? Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide visits Kuqa and Artux in southern Xinjiang, covering Kuqa Grand Mosque, Melana Eshidin Mazar, old mosque sites, Uyghur food, Kucha history, and the region’s shift from Buddhism to Islam.

A Muslim Journey in Kuqa: Mazar of Melana Eshidin and the Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Kuqa is in the Aksu region of southern Xinjiang. I was drawn here by the Kuqa Grand Mosque and the Mazar of Melana. The account keeps its focus on Halal Travel, Yiwu Food, Mosque Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Kuqa is in the Aksu region of southern Xinjiang. I was drawn here by the Kuqa Grand Mosque and the Mazar of Melana. Because of Melana's huge influence, Kuqa converted from Buddhism to Islam, so it is definitely worth a visit. We drove from Kashgar to Kuqa. On the way, we passed through Artux City in the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture and stopped to check out a few mosques that were locked up tight. I will write about Kashgar separately later.

When you drive into a gas station in Xinjiang, you need to scan your ID card to enter, and you have to scan it again to start the gas pump. Both times it must be the same person. Passengers do not need to get out of the car. I heard that in the past, only the driver was allowed into the gas station, but things have relaxed a little bit now.



Wustang West Road Mosque

The Wustang West Road Mosque in Artux City has a dome you can see from a distance. This style is very common in Xinjiang, so it is not surprising that some of these mosques have been preserved.



Looking from afar at another mosque on the street in front of the Artux train station.



Artux Station Mosque



I bought an ice cream at a small shop across from the mosque. People in Xinjiang love ice cream, and you can see shaved ice shops everywhere on the street. We ate while looking at the locked mosque across the street, reluctant to leave. A few older men nearby were sitting around eating baked buns (kaobaozi). They asked if I wanted one, so I said I would take two.



After the baked buns arrived, I saw the owner making cold starch noodles (liangfen), so I ordered two bowls to go with the buns. I remember the baked buns were 3 yuan each, which is the standard price in small towns in southern Xinjiang.



After finishing the noodles, we paid the bill and got ready to leave. Before leaving, I said salaam to the owner. He did not reply, but hesitated and told us to sit for a while longer because he had more good food coming out of the pot. He then gave us a plate of old man melon (laohangua), which is called bixikxin in the Uyghur language. It was ice-cold. This old man melon is not your average Hami melon. It is common in southern Xinjiang, soft, juicy, fragrant, and sweet. Because it is hard to store, it is rarely seen elsewhere.



The owner introduced me to his son, who was cooking. He said their family has been in the restaurant business for several generations. They are Uyghur. Artux City is still mostly Uyghur, while the Kyrgyz people are spread out in the surrounding counties. This might be how the locals show friendship now; they don't say much, but all the blessings are in the food.



Houses in Kizilsu Prefecture.

We saw a mosque on Google Maps, but when we got there, it was just an empty lot. We only took photos of the nearby houses, which looked quite nice.



We arrived in downtown Aksu in the evening and had a fantastic Xinjiang meal at the popular Wangjianglou restaurant.





Crayfish baked buns (kaobaozi).

The viral crayfish baked buns (kaobaozi)—if you haven't tried them, I suggest you don't.



Luhua chicken.



Pigeon noodles (gelao mian).

Luhua chicken and pigeon noodles (gelao mian) are both signature dishes and very tasty. The pigeon noodles contain pigeon meat, and the texture is a bit like spicy chicken.



Every county in southern Xinjiang has a night market. The Aksu Old Street Night Market starts getting busy around 8 p.m. It doesn't get dark until after 10 p.m., and the market stays open until about 1 a.m.











Gulebage Mosque.

We visited Gulebage Mosque in Aksu. It happened to be Jumu'ah that day. We asked the local authorities and learned that Jumu'ah prayer was at 3 p.m. We couldn't pray there, so we drove to Kuqa immediately to make it to the next mosque before 3 p.m.



We passed by the cluster of tombs (mazar) in Aksu, which is said to be the location of Gao Lao Zhuang mentioned in the Journey to the West.



The cemetery is on a hilltop in Wensu County, and many of the Uyghur graves do not have names.













When we arrived at the Kuqa Grand Mosque at 3:00 PM, it was very quiet. There was no Friday prayer (Jumu'ah) here, as it has become a tourist site where visitors buy tickets for 30 yuan. This is the second time I have had to buy a ticket to enter a mosque; the first time was at the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar.



The Kuqa Grand Mosque was first built in the 16th century. It was initiated by Ishak, the leader of the Black Mountain sect, when he came to Kuqa from Kashgar to preach. It was destroyed by fire in the 19th year of the Republic of China, and rebuilt that same year with funding from a wealthy Kuqa man named Halim Haji. The site still preserves a religious court.









The old town of Kuqa is well-preserved, and interested friends can walk around and take a look.

































After leaving the Kuqa Grand Mosque, we headed straight to the Mazar of Maulana Arshiddin with mixed feelings.



The most important Islamic site in Kuqa is the Mazar of Maulana Arshiddin. Maulana means a great scholar. It was thanks to Arshiddin that Tughluq Timur, the Chagatai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty, converted to Islam. Tughluq Timur was the seventh-generation grandson of Genghis Khan. According to the Tarikh-i-Rashidi, Tughluq Timur made an agreement with Arshiddin's father, Jamal al-Din, that his son Arshiddin would later preside over Tughluq Timur's conversion ceremony, where he was given the Islamic name Abu Bakr Muhammad.



This place used to be a religious hall (daotang), but now it is just a locked national key cultural relic protection unit. The inside is overgrown with weeds, and there are even a few wild pheasants nesting there.





The family of Mullah Arshiddin was the first Khoja family to enter southern Xinjiang to preach. Their ancestors came from Bukhara and entered Xinjiang with Genghis Khan. Arshiddin assisted Tughluq Timur in converting his ministers and hundreds of thousands of Mongols to Islam, and he established the Waliye Islamic Institute in Kuqa.



Arshiddin helped spread Islam widely throughout southern Xinjiang. Tughluq Timur honored him as the state teacher and granted his family the hereditary privilege of being Islamic elders. After Arshiddin passed away (returned to Allah), he was buried in this religious hall. During the period when Yaqub Beg ruled Kuqa, he expanded the Arshiddin Gongbei (shrine) on a large scale, covering an area of over 20,000 square meters.



The Arshiddin family is historically known as the Khoja sect, which is the order founded by Ghujduvani, belonging to the Naqshbandi tradition. In the Naqshbandi tradition, Ghujduvani is also highly respected, so it makes sense that when the Naqshbandi order entered Xinjiang in the 16th century, the Kuqa order voluntarily joined them.



Eshidin married the granddaughter of Naishamiding Dahaliwoli, and the tomb (mazar) of Naishamiding is still in Kuqa today.



Eshidin guided the people of Kuqa to convert from Buddhism to Islam through peaceful change. Kuqa was once the Kingdom of Qiuci, a Buddhist land. Many promotional materials claim that Buddhism in the Western Regions declined due to Islamic persecution. This idea first came from the archaeologist Marshall, but the Japanese scholar Kuwayama discovered that Marshall had fabricated it. The main reason for the decline of Buddhism was the change in Silk Road trade routes, which caused it to lose economic support. You can find more details in the book 'History of Nomadic Peoples'.



Before the rise of Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and Manichaeism were already spreading in the Western Regions. When Sufis preached there, they, like the other three religions, focused on sin and the suffering of hell rather than the pleasures of heaven, so the public accepted it naturally.



Eshidin's status in the Khanate was second only to the Mongol princes. Formally, the accession of a new Khan and the appointment of officials required religious approval from Eshidin.



After Eshidin, his successors were Obu Baitaheding, Ahemaiti, Faheding, and Shadierding. The family used Kuqa and Aksu as their base to expand outward, playing a major role in the Islamization of the eastern Xinjiang region.



The successor of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, Wais Khan (1418-1428), did not like the descendants of the Eshidin family. He turned to support the Naqshbandi disciple and great Bukhara mullah Mahaimai Kasanni as his teacher. The influence of the Eshidin family began to weaken, and they retreated to areas east of Aksu and Kuqa.



In 1514, Saide Khan established his own Khanate in Yarkant and invited the Naqshbandi order from Central Asia to be his teachers. The influence of the Eshidin family continued to shrink, eventually confined to the single city of Kuqa, and their influence gradually faded.





Just a few hundred meters from the Eshidin mazar are the ruins of the Kingdom of Qiuci. Locals call them 'tubaozi' (dirt mounds) because to passersby, they just look like two piles of dirt, yet they have been designated as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.



Qiuci, Yutian, and Gaochang were the three major Buddhist centers in the Western Regions. Buddhism spread from India to Xinjiang during the Han Dynasty and reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty, due to changes in trade routes, Buddhism in the Western Regions had already declined.



The Kuqa religious group led by Eshidin only began to exert influence after the mid-14th century. Between 1359 and 1361, a Buddhist group in Kuqa launched a mutiny against Tughluq Timur. The Kuqa religious group was impacted, but Tughluq Timur later suppressed the rebellion and moved a large number of Buddhists to northern Afghanistan and eastern Dunhuang, both of which still retain many Buddhist relics today.



Tughluq Timur's son was named Heierhuozhe. He and Eshidin's second son, Obu Nasaerding, once guarded Turpan together. In 1420, when Shah Rukh's envoy passed through Turpan, he noted that most of the local residents practiced Buddhism and there were many large, spacious temples, which shows that Heierhuozhe did not force the local residents to convert to Islam.



Kuqa has a 'Big Naan City,' but locals suggested that if we want to buy naan bread (naan), we don't need to go to that tourist spot. We can go to the 'Big Naan Alley' near the Eshidin mazar. This is where locals go to buy naan, and a big Kuqa naan only costs 4 yuan.







In the evening, you can visit the Nanhu Night Market in Kuqa. The market stretches for about two kilometers along the street, and there are ethnic song and dance performances in the square.







I had a meal at the Yaxim Xinjiang Restaurant in Kuqa. It is a large place, and the food tastes excellent.



After traveling this far, I feel that in Southern Xinjiang, any Xinjiang restaurant you walk into will taste about the same and will be good. I did not have to be picky about where to eat; I just ate whenever I was hungry. In Northern Xinjiang, you still need to be a bit more selective.

















This dish is called Ili smoked horse meat (xun marou). Some people think according to tradition that horse meat is forbidden, but there is no basis for this in the Quran or Sunnah. Horse meat, like camel meat, is halal to eat. For details, see the list of non-halal foods mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal street food guide maps issue 34, covering Fangshan hot pot, Shidu Xinjiang food, farm-style halal dishes, clam vermicelli, local snacks, and places worth saving for Muslim travelers.

Beijing Halal Food Map (34) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The WeChat official account has a search feature. Just tap the search icon in the top right corner of the homepage to look for articles using keywords. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Muslim Travel, Middle Eastern Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

The WeChat official account has a search feature. Just tap the search icon in the top right corner of the homepage to look for articles using keywords. This works for all official accounts, so there is no need to set up automated keyword replies in the backend. I always see all sorts of strange words in the backend, and I really cannot reply to them all.



1. Hengxingxiang



This is a Beijing-style hot pot restaurant. The meat tasted great while I was eating. When I paid the bill, I noticed the payee was Doudian Yisheng. I asked, and it turns out it is run by the Doudian Yisheng beef and mutton shop, which also has a stall selling beef and mutton on Niujie Street.



The restaurant is in Fangshan and is quite large with two floors. I heard they have live vegetables, which are hydroponic greens brought straight to your table for the hot pot. They are incredibly fresh, though I did not get to try them when I visited.













Aorta (huanghou)





Their sesame flatbread (shaobing) is delicious, soft, and unique. I recommend trying one. There is free parking at the entrance; just tell the security guard you are there to eat.

2. Yinsha Halal Restaurant



Shidu in Fangshan is a beautiful summer retreat in the Beijing suburbs. I found three halal restaurants along the road between Badu and Jiudu. This Yinsha Halal Restaurant is run by a friend from Kashgar (adaxi) and is located in Jiudu. These restaurants all offer lodging.



They serve traditional large Xinjiang dishes as well as local farm-style food, such as grilled rainbow trout and stir-fried wild vegetables.



The family from Xinjiang was preparing lung and tripe (mianfeizi) for Eid al-Fitr that day and even invited us to taste it.







Deep-fried prickly ash buds (zhahuajiaoya)



Stir-fried river shrimp (chaohexia)



Grilled rainbow trout (kaohongzunyu)

3. Muyi's House



This is a halal Beijing-style restaurant in Badu, and the owner is a Hui Muslim from Fengtai.



We ordered a few traditional stir-fried dishes, but they were all quite salty. We prefer lighter flavors, so keep that in mind. The Shidu tofu is a specialty dish and it tastes quite good.







Shidu tofu (shidudoufu)



Egg sauce noodles (jidancuanmian)

The egg sauce for these noodles is extremely salty. Add it little by little when you eat. Most people definitely cannot handle the whole serving of sauce.

4. Clam vermicelli (huajiaphen)



This is an unassuming little shop in the Xiguanshi market. It looks very ordinary, but the taste is excellent.



The clam vermicelli is made of glass noodles with clams and some side vegetables. It has a slightly numbing, salty, and savory flavor. You can add chili separately.



You can add any of these side dishes. The portions are small, and one order of large shrimp is just one single shrimp.



The ingredients are quite fresh. The vegetables and seafood cook quickly when blanched, and they taste good.



It comes wrapped in foil and sits on a bowl so you can carry it without burning your hands, because this clam vermicelli (huajiafen) is really piping hot.



5. Huawei Beijing Research Institute Halal Canteen



The Huawei Beijing Research Institute has four halal stalls, and they are owned by the same person as the halal canteen at the Bantian base in Shenzhen.



You can use cash at the big tech company's halal canteen, as long as you can find a way to get inside.



If you have job offers from many big companies and do not know which one to pick, Huawei's halal canteen is a plus.



Huawei employees have a high happiness index. Working and living on the campus is convenient, and the environment is beautiful.



The design style of the canteen and the campus is consistent with the Shenzhen headquarters.







The sour soup dumplings (suantang shuijiao) are really delicious. The last time I had such good sour soup dumplings was in the Muslim Quarter (Huifang) in Xi'an, and these dumplings at Huawei are just as good.



Crispy baked buns (supi kaobaozi)





6. Xiguanshi Halal Night Market



The parking lot at the entrance of Xiguanshi Village in Changping now hosts a halal night market from 5:00 PM to 11:30 PM, which is named Crescent Food Plaza.



The night market is quite large, with four rows of food stalls on both sides offering dozens of different halal dishes.





Various deep-fried snacks.



Grilled meat on a round iron plate (zhizi kaorou) and grilled fish.





All kinds of small snacks.



Steamed chicken in chili sauce (koushuiji).



Teppanyaki.



The grilled squid from the teppanyaki stall is delicious.





Japanese-style desserts.



They have fresh salmon sashimi and sushi.





Electric-grilled skewers and mung bean jelly noodles (liangfen).



Deep-fried stinky tofu (zha chou doufu).





Grilled oysters and grilled scallops.





Pot-pot chicken (boboji).



Pot-pot chicken (boboji) is a dish of cold skewers that are already cooked.



Fruit salad (shuiguolao).





Charcoal-grilled skewers.







Iced jelly (bingfen) and ice cream.



We tried almost everything at the night market. It was not cheap, and the three of us spent over 400 yuan. The Japanese food and grilled skewers were the most expensive, with two stalls costing over 200 yuan. Of course, there are cheaper ways to eat there.

7. Yuejing Lanwan Japanese Buffet Restaurant.



This is a halal bathhouse that opened recently in Changying, and the Japanese buffet inside is a halal restaurant. You can choose a bath and buffet package for 199 yuan, or just come for the Japanese buffet. The buffet with sashimi is 165 yuan, and the one without is 127 yuan. You can buy group deals on Douyin by searching for "Yuejing Japanese Buffet".



Even though it is a buffet, the food quality is just as good as ordering a la carte. You scan a code to order whatever you want. Each dish is made as a single serving, prepared fresh when you order, and you can eat as much as you like. I think the lamb and seafood at this restaurant are excellent, and the desserts are high quality too. It is a great value.









































The third-floor lounge has an entertainment area and a self-service station for fruit and drinks. Everything is unlimited, and there is plenty of Yili ice cream.



The lounge at this bathhouse isn't as nice as the one at Shuiguo Tangquan, but it is much cheaper. The Japanese restaurant here is a great deal. If you ordered these dishes separately, they would be expensive, but they are very affordable as part of the set meal. There is free parking at the entrance and a children's play area, so it is a good place to bring kids.



8. Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Ethnic Restaurant



The halal canteen at BUPT is called the Ethnic Restaurant. The owner is from Lanzhou. I came to BUPT because they have halal snail rice noodles (luosifen). This is my first time eating halal luosifen in Beijing. I prepared myself mentally on the way here, thinking it would smell very strong. When I actually ate it, I didn't think it was bad at all. It just had a strong smell of pickled bamboo shoots, and it was quite tasty. You can add fried eggs and side dishes to it.



The Ethnic Restaurant has a lot of good food. We also had steamed rice rolls (changfen), and the price was so low it felt like it was free. BUPT students are really lucky.



The campus isn't fully open yet, so you have to find a way to get in if you want to eat here.



Here are some other stalls at the BUPT Ethnic Restaurant, including Chongqing spicy noodles (chongqing xiaomian). I have eaten at many university halal canteens, and BUPT has the widest variety.















9. Peking University Tongyuan



The history of PKU Tongyuan goes back to 1946. That year, PKU established the Department of Oriental Languages and the Department of Arabic. Professor Ma Jian proposed building a canteen for Hui Muslims at PKU. It was the first canteen for Hui Muslims built at a Beijing university and was named the PKU Dongfanghong Hui Muslim Canteen. Later, because the number of Muslim students at PKU increased rapidly, the canteen wasn't big enough. In 1986, PKU raised 500,000 yuan to build a new 400-square-meter halal restaurant on the site of the old Tong Mansion on campus, naming it the PKU Tongyuan Halal Restaurant.



Looking at the halal restaurants at different universities now, Tongyuan at Peking University is on the smaller side. Because it has limited space, it only serves lunch to ethnic minority students, and you cannot pay without a campus card. However, after dinner, Tongyuan opens up to all students and staff for late-night barbecue.

I have been to Tongyuan many times, and they recently added spicy hot pot (mala xiangguo) and spicy soup (malatang) to the menu.











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Summary: This hidden halal restaurants guide for Beijing covers issue 33, featuring Hopson One halal fried chicken, Niujie beef noodles, Xingyuexuan hot pot, local barbecue, and practical restaurant notes for Muslim diners.

Beijing Halal Food Map (33) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: In the days right after Eid al-Fitr, I was still getting used to eating during the day and my appetite was much smaller. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Muslim Travel, Middle Eastern Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

In the days right after Eid al-Fitr, I was still getting used to eating during the day and my appetite was much smaller. My weight dropped below 70kg and hasn't bounced back. Actually, it is quite good to get into the habit of eating only two meals a day. Skipping lunch helps me stay clear-headed and awake in the afternoon.

1. Chicken Tender Master (Jiliu Daren)



Chicken Tender Master is a chain brand, but only this Hopson One (Hesheng Hui) branch is guaranteed to be halal. The owner is a friend (dosti) from Tongliao who studied in Egypt, and his parents are both Hajjis. So, please make sure to choose the Hopson One branch when eating at Chicken Tender Master. I suggested to the owner that he place a subtle halal sign in front of the register to make it easier for friends (dosti) to confirm.



Jiuxing Chicken is a very reliable halal food factory in Hebei, and many friends (dosti) have said it is trustworthy.



They only sell three things: chicken tenders, rice cakes (niangao), and french fries. They guarantee fresh oil every day, so the fried food comes out golden and very fresh.



The fried rice cakes puff up and are hollow inside. The seasoning powder sprinkled on top is a secret recipe and the highlight of this shop.



The owner says this fried food is best eaten right out of the fryer. He does not recommend takeout because it affects the texture. The freshly fried chicken tenders are crispy and delicious, and the rice cakes are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which really satisfies a craving. This kind of small stall does not involve selling alcohol, so the money earned is clean and wholesome.



The address is Shop 168, 21 Block, Basement Level 2, Hopson One.

2. Wei's Big Bowl Noodles (Weiji Dawanmian)



Wei's is a new small beef noodle shop on Zaolin Front Street in Niujie. They have grilled skewers, stir-fried dishes, and grilled fish.



We didn't get to eat the grilled fish that day, so we just ordered a bowl of beef noodles. This Beijing-style beef noodle soup is what we call soup-poured beef noodles (jiaotang niuroumian). It is just like Chai-style beef noodles, except Chai-style sells the noodles and beef separately.



Small skewers on bamboo sticks are also a traditional Beijing-style barbecue. The skewers tasted average, so I still prefer the beef noodles.



3. Xingyuexuan Four Seasons Hot Pot



Xingyuexuan used to be Liankexuan on Niujie Street. It has a new owner now, the same person who owns the Lan Dayouxian beef and mutton shop on Shuru Hutong. Since the change in ownership, the meat quality has improved. The meat quality at the old Liankexuan was not good.



Lan Da's meat is high quality and all comes from Inner Mongolia. This shop hasn't been open long, so you usually don't have to wait in line. If you can't wait at Jubaoyuan, you can come here instead; the taste is about the same.







A highlight of Xingyuexuan is that they sell Haagen-Dazs ice cream for about 30 yuan a serving. It happened to be Eid al-Fitr that day, and the manager gave it to us for free.



4. Tianqiao Lao Jin Hot Pot



This is a branch of Tianqiao Lao Jin located on Jiaozihutong in Niujie. They spent a long time preparing, and it finally opened during Ramadan.





They focus on large, affordable portions. The mutton has a strong gamey flavor, and it lacks the refinement of a big restaurant, but the prices are cheap.



There is no fancy plating; you just eat for the rustic experience.



The chess-piece-shaped flatbread (qizi shaobing) is also very ordinary. Their specialty is a dipping sauce with vinegar. I guess most people aren't used to such sour sauce, so you can also choose the non-sour sesame paste dipping sauce.



4. Jingyi Farmhouse



Jingyi Farmhouse is a courtyard run by Teacher Chen Hui from the former Halal Bookstore. It covers several acres at the foot of the mountain near Xiguanshi Village in Changping. The yard is full of fruit trees, and it is filled with birdsong and flowers when you visit in April.













The yard has chickens and sheep raised in a completely natural, eco-friendly way. You can book ahead if you want to eat here. We held our Eid al-Fitr gathering here this year, with over forty people meeting at the farmhouse to barbecue, drink tea, and chat under the open sky.



Teacher Chen's wife prepared Xinjiang-style noodle soup (fentang) and rice pilaf (zhuafan) for us, along with fresh fruit and vegetable salad.







We cooked over a fire in the yard. Food cooked with firewood has a down-to-earth, delicious flavor.



With over forty young people, two big pots of rice were not enough, so we started an outdoor barbecue.



The grilled fish was very popular. The smoky flavor from charcoal grilling cannot be matched by electric grills.





I usually do the grilling at our events, and the skewers are snatched up as soon as they are ready. The mountain behind me is Fushan Cemetery. The grave of the famous writer Wang Xiaobo is in the new section eight of Fushan Cemetery. Anyone who likes literature will know Wang Xiaobo.



5. Ruizi Dumpling Restaurant



At Ruizi Dumpling Restaurant in Xiguanshi, Changping, the signature dish is dumplings, but I think their steamed dumplings (shaomai) and meat pies (roubing) are even better.



We came at noon and it was very crowded. Everything with a filling is wrapped to order, so the wait is a bit long.



The taste did not disappoint, especially the beef steamed dumplings and the meat pie. Their meat pie is huge, just like a Shandong thick pancake (zhuangmo). Two people definitely cannot finish it; one pie is enough for four people, so be careful with how much you order.



The dumplings taste good too. They have many kinds of fillings, and I love the beef and green onion ones.



6. Beizi shop at Xiguanshi Market



In the Xiguanshi market, we found a baked flatbread (beizi) shop that has been open for many years. We asked the owner, and he is indeed from Hohhot. This baked flatbread is a specialty of Hohhot and is also found in Baotou. It is a food unique to Hui Muslims.



We bought a few sugar-filled baked flatbreads (beizi) to go. They also have savory baked flatbreads and sesame flatbreads (shaobing), and they fry dough fritters (youxiang) every day at 4:00 PM. Baked flatbreads (beizi) and flatbreads (nang) are staple foods that are easy for Muslims to carry when traveling.



We found a few unique small shops in Xiguanshi village. We did not have time to eat there, but we look forward to trying them one by one next time.



This flatbread (nang) shop is great. It is run by a Uyghur young man. He only sells flatbreads and nothing else. We have bought from there twice.



Jia County buckwheat noodles (heluo mian) from Henan



Hai Family beef covered pancakes (niurou zhaobing) in Baoding



Clam vermicelli (huajia fen)

8. Maidebao (Niujie branch)



Maidebao opened another branch on Niujie. This shop used to be called Lebangke, and the address still shows Lebangke, but it has actually changed to Maidebao. It is an alcohol-free fast-food restaurant, suitable for couples on dates.



The Niujie branch features many Islamic design elements.



Arabic calligraphy calendars hang on the walls.



The tables hold Arabic novels and tea from Zhengxingde.



Small Islamic-themed ornaments sit on the dining tables.





The burger menu now includes a double beef patty option.



Besides burgers, they offer a variety of pizzas.



I think the pizza tastes better. I had the Margherita pizza this time and will try other flavors next time. Their french fries and chicken nuggets are also delicious.



Margherita pizza

9. Pakistan Truck Art Festival



The Embassy of Pakistan in China is hosting a truck art festival at the Silk Road International Arts Center in Langfang from April 28 to July 24.





Truck art is a traditional part of Pakistani culture. These beautiful hand-painted truck bodies were created by the Pakistani truck art group Phool Patti.



The Phool Patti group commercialized truck art, which helps protect this cultural heritage while creating income for local artisans.



Truck art started as a traditional painting style used on horse harnesses and carriages. As industrial transport grew across the country, many types of imported trucks came into use. During this time, artists and truck owners began putting a lot of effort into decorating these new vehicles. These carefully decorated trucks drove into remote areas and quickly became eye-catching symbols on the road.















There was a free buffet on the opening day, but I am not sure if they will have it later.



I had dinner with a beautiful Pakistani host.



The big festival cake was cut into small pieces and eaten up in an instant.













The main courses and dessert tables were set up on both sides of the exhibition hall. This was my first time eating these cold cheese sweet rice balls (tangyuan), and I really liked them.









We took a bus from the Pakistani embassy to get there and back. The bus broke down on the highway on the way over, but it did not affect the mood of our Pakistani friends at all. Everyone kept laughing and talking. Luckily, we were not late for the opening ceremony, and the event started on time.

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Summary: This Beijing halal food guide maps issue 32 of the series, including Chongqing hot pot, Temple of Heaven halal fast food, beef ball noodles, Beijing style snacks, and Ramadan iftar notes from Niujie Mosque.

Beijing Halal Food Map (32) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I have been too busy to go out and explore shops during Ramadan. After breaking my fast in the evening, I soon have to start the Tarawih prayers. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Muslim Travel, Middle Eastern Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

I have been too busy to go out and explore shops during Ramadan. After breaking my fast in the evening, I soon have to start the Tarawih prayers. I mostly break my fast at the Niujie Mosque. The mosque now provides tea and snacks every day for iftar. The main meals are usually boxed lunches provided by different elders in turns. It does not matter if the boxed lunch tastes good or not; what matters is the blessing inside. Providing an iftar meal for someone fasting earns the same reward. I hope those who are able will invite more friends (dosti) around them who are fasting to break their fast.

1. Hongxiaolu Authentic Chongqing Hot Pot



This is a newly opened Chongqing hot pot restaurant in Beijing, owned by a person from Zhangjiachuan, Gansu. According to the owner, they originally planned to join the Niububi franchise, but Niububi does not accept franchises, no matter how much money is offered.



The style of this shop is slightly different from Niububi. Niububi is a Sichuan clear oil hot pot, which is different from Chongqing hot pot in terms of the soup base. Also, the prices here are cheaper than Niububi, and the dishes are slightly inferior to Niububi as well.







The shop is located on Xiaoying North Road in the Datun Subdistrict of the Asian Games Village. Next door is a hand-pulled noodle shop (lamian guan), and both are owned by the same person.



2. Ya'er Liji Small Restaurant



Ya'er Liji has opened a new fast-food spot at the south gate of the Temple of Heaven. They do not sell hot pot meat, only fast food and snacks.



The highlights of their menu are Luxi beef rice, braised chicken rice (huangmenji mifan), and beautifully plated soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian).



Luxi beef rice

Since the owner of Ya'er Liji is from Dezhou, Shandong, it makes sense that they make Luxi beef and braised chicken well, as braised chicken is also a Shandong specialty.



Braised chicken rice

Few ordinary restaurants make soybean paste noodles with much care, but this small shop puts effort into the vegetable toppings and provides a good variety. The only downside is that the noodles are not hand-rolled, so the texture is a bit lacking.



Soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian)

3. Xiangqing Beef Ball Noodles



Xiangqing Beef Ball Noodles is a new brand at the Qingxiangge Tuanjiehu branch. This spot used to be Anhui beef flat noodles (banmian), but the sign has changed again.





This noodle shop doesn't look like much from the outside, but the food is actually quite good. The spicy beef noodles with beef balls and a small bowl of beef are especially fragrant and affordable.



The small bowl of beef and the beef balls are stewed until very soft and tender, melting in your mouth with plenty of flavor.



Small bowl of beef



Beef balls



4. Annei Laoma Steamed Dumplings (Dongba Branch)



This is a branch of Annei Laoma Steamed Dumplings (shaomai) in Dongba. The menu is slightly different, and I think it tastes better than the main store.



Besides the classic beef and lamb steamed dumplings, this branch serves Inner Mongolian-style lamb offal (yangza) and small hot pots, which the main store does not have.





Pan-fried steamed dumplings (youjian shaomai)



Their lamb offal is just the Inner Mongolian style I like. It comes in a full bowl with plenty of finely sliced tripe, just like what I ate in Inner Mongolia.



5. MULU



Mulu is a private Malaysian restaurant specializing in Southeast Asian flavors. It is the most expensive restaurant I have ever visited. You must book three days in advance and pay a deposit. They charge per person: 988 yuan for four main courses or 1488 yuan for six. They serve the dishes in order, just like a Western-style meal.



The menu for Monday through Friday.

The restaurant is located in a hutong in the Dongcheng District. You need a reservation. The owner and head chef is a Malaysian Chinese person who mainly provides custom catering for various Southeast Asian embassies. Because of this, the ingredients are guaranteed to be halal, and the chef showed me where they come from.



It is a private kitchen with a very intimate atmosphere. The only downside is that parking is difficult. There is only one parking space, and you need good driving skills to navigate a car into the hutong.







Before serving each dish, the chef explains the ingredients and the cooking process. Every guest gets an individual portion, and the chef brings out the raw ingredients to show us.



The portions are small. I can finish one in two or three bites, but it is perfect for women who want to eat elegantly and savor the flavors.



The Friday menu features Nyonya cuisine. Nyonya is another name for Malaysian Chinese people. It is very rare to find a halal version of this in Beijing.



This is the white asparagus the chef showed us. You rarely see this in a regular market.



To improve the taste, the chef adds sauce to some dishes right at the table.





The creamy veal ribs have a strong milky aroma and are tender and juicy. There is no denying that their ingredients are very fresh.



This turtle-shell-shaped dessert is made from beetroot and has a soft, chewy texture.



A small serving of sago dessert (ximilu) comes in a stone pot. The pot feels ice-cold to the touch, and the dessert is refreshing, sweet, and cool.

6. Dexiangshun Halal Restaurant



This new little restaurant on Jiaozihutong in Niujie looks plain from the outside, but the stir-fried dishes are quite tasty.



The kung pao chicken (gongbao jiding) is a standout. It tastes just like the version I had as a kid and goes perfectly with rice.



The stir-fried mixed vegetables (chaohecai) are also good. They have some off-menu items too, like the braised eggplant (shaoqiezi), which is delicious.



We tried almost everything on the menu and didn't find a single bad dish. It cost three of us less than 100 yuan, making it a great value.



7. 99th Arabic Barbecue



This shop is on the basement level of Euro Plaza in Shunyi. Even though it is called Arabic Barbecue, it has nothing to do with Arabia; it is run by Hui Muslims from Beijing.



The owner is also preparing a music barbecue restaurant next door, but it has not opened yet.



Their barbecue rice is really just a mixed rice bowl and has nothing to do with Arabic pilaf (zhuafan), but it tastes okay.



The barbecue wrap has a hint of Middle Eastern shawarma, but it still leans more toward a Chinese style.



This is the only halal shop on the basement level of Euro Plaza. I chatted with the manager and offered some suggestions for improvement.



8. Dastaan Indian Restaurant



A South Asian restaurant opened on the third floor of Sanlitun SOHO Mall Building 5. The chef and servers are from Bangladesh. This year, April 14th was both Jumu'ah and the Bengali New Year. The restaurant prepared a special buffet for 248 yuan per person, featuring Bengali dishes and South Asian snacks, available only on that day.



These are Bengali-style mixed vegetable fritters. The fried bitter melon was very unique, and the thin crispy cracker on top was truly thin, crunchy, and delicious.



Phuchka (panipuri)

This snack of crispy balls filled with sour soup is panipuri, which appeared in the Indian movie Dangal. It is found in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. You must eat these balls immediately after they are filled with the soup, or they will get soggy and lose their texture.



The Bengali server wearing a turban only speaks English.



Three types of pilaf served with roasted chicken or beef are among my favorite South Asian foods.



South Asian style salads include Kolkata-style potato and black chickpea salad and Bengali-style chili salad. Be warned, the chili is very spicy and I could barely handle it.



Kolkata soft white cheese, rose and nut sweet millet porridge, semolina with coconut-flavored sweet balls, and traditional Bengali rice porridge.



Bengali-style mixed spinach masala



Indian white cheese chicken gravy with fried potatoes



Bengali-style with coconut and raisins



Kolkata slow-cooked lamb masala



Yogurt and nut sauce chicken



Fried carp with mustard and yogurt sauce



A colorful display of various spices.



Lime-flavored yogurt drink and mango-flavored drink



Bengali-style popcorn



The host wears traditional clothing and speaks with a thick Indian accent to celebrate the arrival of the new year.



There is a dance performance during the meal, and the young lady dances very beautifully.

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Summary: This Beijing halal restaurant guide maps issue 35, featuring Grand Bazaar Xinjiang food, yellow noodles with grilled meat, kawas, Xunji Courtyard hot pot, premium halal dining, and the culture behind Muslim food guides.

Beijing Halal Food Map (35) is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I recently released a documentary interview about why I started writing guides for halal food. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Muslim Travel, Middle Eastern Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

I recently released a documentary interview about why I started writing guides for halal food. Since 2016, I have visited over a thousand restaurants. My halal food journeys have given me more than just meals; they have shown me the stories and people behind the food. These elements make up the deep and broad halal food culture. Focusing only on eating and having fun won't last, as restaurants eventually close, but cultural heritage lives on forever.

1. Grand Bazaar Xinjiang Restaurant



The sign for yellow noodles with kebabs (kawapu) caught my eye. Kawapu means grilled meat, and yellow noodles with grilled meat is a classic Xinjiang specialty.



When I eat Xinjiang food, I always order a fermented drink called kawas. I also love another fermented drink called milk beer (naipi). Both are Xinjiang specialties I really enjoy.



For a cold dish, you have to get the skin, chili, and tomato salad (pilahong).









I highly recommend their yellow noodles with grilled meat. It tastes fresh and not greasy. You can add a little vinegar to make the flavors pop. The yellow noodles are served cold with the grilled meat, which is perfect for summer.



Xinjiang is also a great place for grilled fish. This is grilled luzi fish. It is a bit spicy, but the meat is firm.



Address: Building 1, Courtyard 5, Xiaotun Road, Fengtai District

2. Xunji Courtyard, Qingnian Road Branch



Xunji is a chain restaurant. There is one at the Drum Tower, and they opened another on Qingnian Road. Both have different decor styles, but both feel high-end and elegant. The Qingnian Road location has a particularly fresh and unique atmosphere. It is much larger than the Drum Tower branch and has plenty of free parking.



When you enter the courtyard, you walk through a bamboo forest. Mist rises along the path, making it feel like a fairyland.





The courtyard is full of flowers and greenery, with bright, colorful hydrangeas everywhere.





The courtyard has open-air seating and tented private rooms, each equipped with air conditioning, lights, and sound systems.



There is an indoor dining hall, but in the summer, everyone prefers to sit in the courtyard to enjoy the flowers and the food.



The dining tables in the tented rooms have microphones and sound effects; if you speak near the table, you can hear an echo, which makes chatting easy.



When friends from Shadian arrived in Beijing, I specifically brought my team here for a good meal. This place is top-tier halal dining in Beijing, costing 400-500 yuan per person. The restaurant charges by the head and currently only serves hot pot.











All ingredients are fresh and high-quality. You just wait for the servers to bring the dishes in order, and each private room has a dedicated server to provide attentive service. The dishes are served in this order: drinks, cold appetizers, hot pot items, staples, and dessert. You can order extra portions of anything you like during the meal at no additional cost.













The desserts and staples are specialties from Gansu. Since the owner is from Gansu, they serve fermented oat porridge (tianpei) and handmade dough slices (shougong mianpian).





3. Zhizi Jianghu Cuisine · Halal Barbecue



This is a newly opened barbecue shop in Xiguanshi, Changping. Their specialty is grilled fish. We ordered one grilled fish and one order of grilled prawns, both of which were delicious. If you don't mind the distance, you can come and try it.





They also serve ice jelly (bingfen) and fried mini dough sticks (zha xiao youtiao), which are usually only found in Sichuan-style hot pot restaurants.









4. Syrian Restaurant (SOLANA branch)



Ever since the Syrian restaurant in Wudaokou, Haidian, became popular, the owner wanted to open a branch in Chaoyang District. This time, the wish finally came true. The new branch is on the second floor of the SOLANA (Lanse Gangwan) shopping mall, near McDonald's.



The SOLANA branch is much larger, the decor is very stylish, and the private rooms have a wider view than the previous location.



I invited a group of foodie friends to check it out. We ordered everything on the menu, and it cost 100 yuan per person.









The menu is exactly the same as the Wudaokou shop, and the flavors are basically identical.

























I suddenly realized that Syrian barbecue is the same thing as Zibo barbecue. Syrian barbecue is also eaten by wrapping meat in thin flatbread (bing). The difference is that Zibo barbecue uses green onions inside, while Syrian barbecue uses onions.











The shop sells beautiful coffee cups. We happened to visit on the opening day celebration, and the owner gave every friend who came to check in a beautiful coffee cup.



5. Northeast Barbecue and Clay Pot



This shop used to be called Xinyuezhai Steamed Bun Shop. It just changed its name and is located in the storefronts of Courtyard 32, West Chang'an No. 1, Mentougou District.



What attracted me wasn't the steamed buns, but their braised noodles with green beans (doujiao menmian). Braised noodles are a common Northeast home-style staple food. The owner is a Hui Muslim from Jixi, Heilongjiang.



Steamed buns are sold every morning at 10 o'clock. They taste pretty good, and the Northeast-style small barbecue is also decent.





I recommend their braised noodles with green beans and the clay pot lamb meatballs (shaguo yangrou wanzi). The portions aren't big, but the taste is good.













6. Fangji Snack Shop



Fangji Menting Meat Pie shop in Songjiazhuang is a small street-side eatery. The meat pies (menting roubing) are great when they come fresh out of the pan.



The shop has a sign hanging that says May Allah grant peace. Helpful followers warned me that after anti-Muslim accounts saw this photo, they featured me in their posts again. I have lost count of how many times I have been featured, so please do not forward or notify me if you see me featured in the future.





7. Feng Yaya Barbecue and Spicy Hot Pot (malatang)



This spicy hot pot shop near the Nanxiapo mosque opened recently. It serves North China-style food, which uses sesame paste in the spicy hot pot. Northwest-style would use chili oil instead.











8. Ganges Impression Indian Restaurant



This is the Ganges restaurant in Laiguangying, Shunyi. It is run by Muslims from South India, and the shop does not sell beef.



The restaurant is not big, but it has all kinds of Indian snacks.



There is another Indian and Pakistani restaurant in Shunyi called Shalima. Both of these Indian and Pakistani restaurants now sell alcohol.





The classmate who came with me insisted on trying this Indian pickle. It really tastes like medicine.







Ever since the movie Dangal became popular, almost every Indian and Pakistani restaurant in Beijing has started selling these crispy ball snacks (panipuri).



9. Mazilu Beef Noodles (Jinbaojie branch)



Mazilu Beef Noodles is the oldest beef noodle brand in Lanzhou. The Mazilu in Beijing is a direct-managed store.



I have eaten noodles at old shops in Lanzhou. They taste just like the ones in Beijing—very fragrant and very Lanzhou.



Serving vinegar in a traditional copper kettle (tangping) is a unique feature of Gansu.



There are two Mazilu shops in Beijing, and the other one is at Andingmen.





Many old friends from Lanzhou do not think much of Mazilu. I understand that, just like how I am not interested in some of the trendy snacks on Niujie. It is perfectly normal for locals and tourists to have different opinions on local food. This shows that tastes change with the environment and time, and personal feelings can even influence what a person likes.



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